


That Was You?!

by Chrystie, kate882



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: And Dick is unaware of this, M/M, The one where Jason met Dick as Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 11:04:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16809367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrystie/pseuds/Chrystie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate882/pseuds/kate882
Summary: “But it’s such a cute first meeting story. I had the start of our relationship all wrong.” Dick was clinging to Jason’s arm, pout aimed up at him.“What's cute about you stopping a homeless kid from stealing through bribery?”





	That Was You?!

Jason felt someone grab his arm, and turned with a fist ready, only to find himself faced with Robin. The bright colors of his outfit standing out late at night in Crime Alley. He took less than a second to get over that surprise before deciding it was still best to go in for the punch, since he'd most likely been grabbed over the wallet he'd just stollen.

Robin, unsurprisingly, easily dodged, and didn’t even let go of him. “That’s not very nice.”

“Neither is grabbing strangers,” Jason shot back, pointedly trying to tug his arm free. It wasn't really working for him, and he wasn't sure if that was because Robin was strong or because Jason hadn't eaten anything in the last three days and was not at his best.

“I’ll let you go after you give that nice lady her wallet back. What’s a kid like you stealing for anyway?”

“None of your business.” Jason glared and gripped the wallet in his hand tighter. “What's a kid like you doing in this part of Gotham anyway?”

“Oh, y’know stopping crime and all that fun.” Jason couldn’t really tell but the tilt on Robin’s head made it seem like he was assessing him or something. “Tell you what, we can have a trade. Give back the wallet and I’ll treat you to something to eat.”

Jason bristled under the look. “I'm not looking for the Boy Wonder’s charity. Besides, don't you have a Batman to get back to? Or more important crime to stop?”

“What charity? I said it was a trade. Besides, I know Bat’s needs me and all, but I think he can manage himself for the night.”

“I know what you said. I also know what it means. Just let go of me already, you can take the wallet.” He'd just take another one after Robin was gone and hope it had more cash.

“What if I just wanted better company than big and brooding for a greasy midnight fast food run? You sure you want to say no to some nice burgers, fries, and maybe a milkshake?”

Jason wanted to say no because it was the principle of the thing, but he wasn't in the strongest position to say no to free food at the moment. So, still glaring, he dropped the wallet.

“Sweet.” Robin slowly let go, as if making sure Jason wouldn’t run away, and grabbed the wallet. “Don’t go anywhere; this’ll only take a second.” Robin ran back in the direction of the woman he’d snatched the wallet from and came back a few minutes later. “So, you feel like getting to the closest diner the boring way, or do you want to see Gotham from the rooftops?

“Well I know which answer you want me to pick,” Jason muttered, eyeing the grin on Robin’s face suspiciously. “Sure, by rooftop.” He almost took it back seeing the grin grow, but it was too late for that by the looks of it, because no sooner had he said it than an arm wrapped around him and a grappling hook was fired and then they were airborne. Jason would never admit to the startled yelp he gave as his feet left the ground and he wrapped his arms tight around Robin to keep from falling.

In books, when someone was nervous about a height, people tended to tell them not to look down. Jason had never quite gotten why, they were scared because they already knew how high up they were. As he and Robin soared through the city though, he couldn’t understand why someone wouldn’t _want_ to look down. Gotham was a shit city that had never done him an ounce of good, but from above it almost looked pretty. Maybe that’s why Batman hung out on rooftops. It actually looked worth saving from up above. And maybe Jason was actually smiling just a little looking down at it all before they arrived at their destination. 

“Awesome right?” Robin grinned at him as he took a step away to lead him into the diner, “like flying.”

“...it was alright,” Jason grudgingly admitted as he followed him.

Robin just beamed another grin at him, and because he was Robin - boy wonder - the second they entered they were seated and getting their orders taken, no waiting done at all, even if they were getting some odd looks. “Get whatever you want.”

“So where is Batman anyway? I thought you two were a matching set,” Jason commented as he scanned the menu.

“We’re not together twenty four-seven. We split sometimes, especially since I’m old enough to take care of myself.” Robin seemed a little indignant about that.

Jason eyed him over the top of his menu. “You don't look that old to me,” he said skeptically.

“Older than you.”

“I'm ten. That doesn't make you old.”

“I can still kick the butt of someone twice my age.”

“There aren't many 12 year old super villains, so I would certainly hope so.” He'd barely set his menu down before the waitress was at their table asking for their orders.

Robin was apparently big on dessert considering he ordered a regular burger and then a shake piled high with ice cream and whip. “I’m almost thirteen.”

Jason ordered a burger and fries with a soda and the lady left them alone. “Am I supposed to be impressed?”

“Old enough to be out by myself sometimes,” Robin huffed.

“So I was supposed to be impressed.” And he was, a little. He wasn't much of a Batman fan, but someone around his age kicking ass as a superhero was kind of cool. Not that Robin needed to know that.

“But enough about me, let’s talk a bit about you.”

Jason grimaced. “Do we have to?”

“I guess we don’t _have_ to if you don’t want to. That was some pretty good sleight of hand you had back there though, y'know when you snatched the wallet. It was completely illegal and you shouldn’t do it, but it was impressive.”

“Not impressive enough if you caught me,” he muttered as their food was brought out.

“I’m trained to notice.” Robin took a large spoonful of the ice cream that topped his shake and gave a happy hum. “You’ve gotta try some of this.”

Jason picked up one his fries, dipping it in the milkshake and popping it in his mouth. “It's good,” he agreed, picking up his burger to take a bite, reminding himself to go slowly since it had been a while.

Robin was actually content to let silence fall over them as they ate, Robin eating a lot faster than him, even getting up at one point after he finished while Jason was still only half way through, saying that he’d be right back. He came back with a little skip that was just so… cheerful. “So,” he said as he plopped back down, although with the cape he looked like he floated down, “You gonna tell me your name?”

Jason raised his eyebrows at the question. “You gonna tell me yours?”

“You know what mine is, silly. It’s Robin.”

“That's not actually your name,” Jason answered confidently. He wasn't super hungry anymore, but he wasn't about to waste food.

“Who says?”

“I do. That'd be stupid. Batman isn't Batman’s real name.”

“It could be, he could’ve been named weird, you never know.”

“I do know, because he wouldn't wear a mask and he'd have been found by now.”

“Fine fine,” Robin held up his hands, “but that doesn’t mean you can’t tell me yours.”

“Why should I? I don't know your name.”

“‘Cause I don’t have anything to call you other than kid.”

“Call me what you want, it's not like we're going to be seeing a lot of each other.”

“That sucks. You’re not so bad. Do you know how boring it gets hanging out with Mr. Brooding Is My Only Emotion.”

“Are you saying being a superhero is boring?” Jason wasn't convinced and he was sure it showed on his face just as well as he could hear it in his own voice.

“Of course not, being a superhero is awesome. I’m saying Batman is boring.”

“That I can believe,” Jason decided, finishing his burger and starting to pick at his fries.

“Y’know you can get those to go,” Robin pointed at the rest of the fries.

“Nowhere to keep them,” Jason shrugged.

“That sucks considering I got you another burger to go,” Robin said as the waitress came by with a bag. “Maybe you can share it with someone.”

Jason could feel his eyes widening in surprise at the bag. “You didn't have to do that.”

“Yeah, but i wanted to,” Robin smiled at him warmly, and Jason just stared at him for a few seconds because he didn't get it, but eventually offered a small smile back, putting the fries into the box.

He supposed they'd all last through the night and he could eat them in the morning. “Thank you.”

Robin just smiled wider. “Now, as awesome as it was to hang out with you, Bat’s will probably have noticed I’m not patrolling anymore by now.”

“So you're not going completely unmonitored then?” Jason asked with amusement.

“Batman doesn’t let anything go unmonitored, not even his partner.”

Jason wasn't too sure about that ‘anything’ considering he didn't see a lot of Batman in Crime Alley, but he sure saw a lot of illegal activity. But he didn't say as much. “I won't keep you then. Don't need Batman tracking me down asking where his sidekick is.”

“Nah, you don’t have to worry about him being on your case; you can count on that.” Robin paid for their food as the server came by with the bill and tipped them generously to not gossip. “I can still get you back to where we met though. Wouldn’t want to strand you here.”

“You sure you won't get in trouble?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fine.” Once they were back outside, Robin wrapped his arm around Jason’s waist again, pulling him to his chest. “Ready?”

Jason wrapped his arms around Robin, having learned from last time, and nodded.

* * *

Dick looked at the new kid consideringly. He was a little older than Dick had been when Dick had started, but he couldn’t really count that as a negative. It was an improvement in all honesty. From what he’d gathered from sparring with Jason earlier, he looked like he was learning pretty quickly too. “Not bad. Of course you can’t beat the original.”

“The original didn't notice me taking this though,” he held up Dick’s watch. “So I think that counts as at least a partial win on observational skills.”

“Wha-“ Dick looked to his wrist and sure enough, his watch was gone. “Okay, you got me there. Nice sleight of hand.” Dick couldn’t really shake off the feeling of Jason being somewhat familiar, but he ignored it in favor of actually getting to know Jason.

Jason tossed it back to him. “Figured it might help with disarming criminals or something whenever Bruce actually lets me into the field.”

“From what I’ve seen today, it shouldn’t be too long now. You’ve gotten pretty good with only a few months of training.”

Jason grinned at him, looking excited by the prospect. “Really? Can you tell him that? Because he still says I'm too reckless.”

“He just wants you to think before you jump. I was pretty bad at that too,” Dick chuckled. He’d sure gotten chewed out a lot for not thinking before leaping, pretty literally most of the time.

Jason shrugged. “I don't like hesitating. I like to take opportunities as I see them.” He said that, and it definitely showed in his fighting style -fists first seemed to be the strategy-, but he definitely also had a calculating edge to him that Dick was sure Bruce could see and was trying to get him to use more.

“Yeah I get that. Still, a quick thought can be the difference between winning the fight or getting shot. But enough about that; I didn’t come here to be a second Bruce, I came by to meet you. What do you say we grab something to eat? It’ll be infinitely less healthy than something Alf makes.” When Dick was still staying at the manor he constantly got cravings for unhealthy and greasy food. He loved Alfred’s cooking, but it was nice to indulge in some unhealthy food every now and then.

“Sure,” Jason agreed easily. “You should shower first though. You're pretty gross.” He smirked like he wasn't just as sweaty from sparring.

“Speak for yourself.” Dick wrapped an arm around his shoulders to drag him to the showers in the cave. “C’mon we both reek.”

“Ew, get off of me,” Jason complained, nose wrinkling in disgust.

“We’re both gross, stop complaining.”

When they were all showered up and heading out Alfred spotted them and commented, “Ah, I see you've met Master Dick.”

“I already knew who he was,” Jason grumbled, rolling his eyes as Dick tugged him along. Dick just assumed he meant he knew him as the former Robin, it made sense after all.

“I’m taking him out for bonding, Alf. We’ll be back in a few hours,” Dick called back.

“Have fun,” Alfred called back.

* * *

“Honestly, I almost punched Dick the first time I met him,” Jason was telling Tim as Dick walked into his and Jason’s shared apartment.

“That doesn't surprise me at all actually,” Tim answered and Jason lightly smacked his shoulder.

“You did punch me. We were sparring,” Dick blinked, clearly confused.

“No no, when we met while you were Robin,” Jason clarified, glancing at Dick over his shoulder. “Tim came to see you.”

“I'm visiting you too,” Tim informed Jason.

“What do you mean when I was Robin? We met when you were training to be Robin.” Dick walked over to sit with them, pressing a chaste kiss to Jason’s forehead because he knew the PDA embarrassed Tim.

Jason looked pointedly at Tim. “Told you I didn't think he remembered me.”

“I'm sorry I had more faith in his facial recognition,” Tim answered, sliding Jason a five dollar bill.

“What are you guys talking about?”

And now Jason was laughing at him, and he didn't get the joke. “Babe, we met while I was still living on the streets. And then we met again when I became Robin.”

“We did?” Dick went wide eyed, “when? How? I swear if we did I would remember you. You’re pretty hard to forget.”

“In your defense,” Jason was still grinning at him. “I got a haircut and gained some weight and muscle after I became Robin. And it had been a while. So I probably looked pretty different.”

“Wheennnn?” Dick was whining now, leaning into Jason’s space with a pout.

“And you probably didn't tell him your name,” Tim muttered like Dick hadn't said anything, while Jason just let Dick invade his personal bubble. A huge improvement from a few years ago, or even just when they'd first started dating.

“And why should I have? He wasn't telling me his,” Jason countered.

“And if you met Robin you were probably committing a crime.”

“I mean… yeah. That's a given. That's what I did. I met Bruce through crime too.” 

Dick pieced together what they were saying and shot up to stare at Jason. “That was you?!”

“Whom was me?” Jason asked him, amusement clear in his voice.

“The cute little kid I got burgers with,” Dick said accusingly.

“Definitely not me then. I wasn't cute, and I'm only two years younger than you.”

“When you’re ten and twelve, any amount of years is a lot, you little liar.”

Jason was laughing at him again. “God, Dickie, I even stole your watch and told Alfred I already knew you when you came to the manor that first time.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Because I wasn't sure if you just didn't remember me or weren't mentioning it, and you didn't say anything when I said we knew each other.” Jason shrugged his shoulders. “By the time I was convinced you just didn't remember it had been a bit long to bring it up, and there was no real need to.”

“But it’s such a cute first meeting story. I had the start of our relationship all wrong.” Dick was clinging to Jason’s arm, pout aimed up at him.

“What's cute about you stopping a homeless kid from stealing through bribery?”

“What bribery? I took you out for your first swing through the city and treated you to dinner. The only bribery happening was bribing the staff to not talk about our visit.”

“If I recall correctly, you wanted to trade doing that for me giving up the wallet.”

“Semantics,” Dick waved it off.

“Did you take a lot of homeless children out for food,” Tim asked curiously.

“No, only Jay. He was the only kid I ever ran into on the streets. Well the only one that I ever caught stealing.”

“Oh so I was a special case of harassing the homeless,” Jason deadpanned.

“You’re special,” Dick agreed.

“You guys are so weird,” Tim informed them.

“How? Because I like to compliment my boyfriend?” Dick teasingly chided.

“Your boyfriend you didn't remember meeting?” Tim clarified.

“He didn’t even give me his name when we met that night.”

“It wasn't your business,” Jason agreed.

“You saw his face,” Tim objected.

“Yeah, it was a lot thinner during that time. Alfred sure did wonders for him.” Dick ran a finger along Jason’s jaw line with an appreciative hum, “he did the rest by himself though and it’s always nice to look at.”

Jason batted his hand away. “Baby bird is still here, on this couch,” Jason reminded him.

Dick leaned up to kiss his cheek, “I know, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate.”

“Should I go?” Tim asked, edging away from them when Jason retaliated by kissing Dick on the lips.

“Didn’t you come to visit, Timmy?” Dick asked him with an innocent smile.

“I did. I brought movies too. But Jason’s practically in your lap, so if you guys wanted the alone time I could come back.”

“No no,” Dick waved off, “You barely have enough time to visit. We’ll have alone time when you fall asleep.”

“Not all of us sleep like the dead, Dick. Wait until I leave.”

“Spoilsport.” Dick still settled in next to Jason instead of on top of Jason and let Tim pop in a movie.

**Author's Note:**

> Thought I should post a fic before finals kill me next week hope you guys like it -Kate


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